Snow brings sledders, boosts Lewis County economy

LOWVILLE  With snowfall over the past week measured in feet, the accumulation is translating into green for area businesses and Lewis County.

The county, which keeps 12.7 percent of each $45 registration fee from the Department of Motor Vehicles office, issued 439 snowmobile registrations Dec. 24, 26 and 27, and nearly another 200 on Dec. 28.

We had people stopping in and asking where to register, said Towpath Lodge owner Jennifer M. Myers. We sent them to the DMV.

After poor snowfall last year in their first year of ownership of the business, the Myerses were pleased with their first true accumulation in Turin.

This is the welcoming we expected last year, but no complaints, Mrs. Myers said. Its been excellent.

Toni Spann, assistant manager at the Edge Hotel and Boondocks Restaurant and Bar, Lyons Falls, said, Its been absolutely wonderful. Both customers and guests are loving it and were enjoying them all. The trails are wonderful. Weve heard no complaints.

Two incidents involving snowmobiles were reported by the Lewis County Sheriffs Department over the weekend. Minor injuries were reported in a town of Lewis accident Saturday. Lewis County sheriffs deputies said Randy L. Wiler, 23, Hamlin, was a passenger on a 2002 Arctic Cat operated by Clay E. Richardson, 52, also of Hamlin, when he slid off the back at 10:55 a.m. and was injured. Mr. Wiler was taken to St. Elizabeths Hospital, Utica, for treatment of lower leg injuries. No tickets were issued.

Later that day, deputies observed a sled driver operating the vehicle without a helmet. That driver, Steven M. Sager, 54, Conklin, Broome County, was charged with operating the snowmobile while intoxicated when he was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.13 percent.

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